State News

TRENTON – The Assembly Labor Committee advanced legislation Tuesday that would bring New Jersey’s unemployment benefits system in line with 21st century technology and help struggling out-of-work residents more easily manage their benefits.

NEWARK – A private security guard contracted by an affiliate of the National Basketball Association pleaded guilty Tuesday to making several hoax bomb threats to an office of NBA Properties Inc. in Secaucus, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

NEWARK – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers intercepted a woman arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport last month who allegedly had over 30 pounds of cocaine concealed within her checked luggage, officials said.

STATE – A state audit of a weatherization assistance program administered by the Department of Community Affairs revealed that just a fraction of federal grant money had been spent and that cost controls were not being implemented.

TRENTON — Squirrels aren’t the only ones focused on acorns this fall. At the Department of Environmental Protection’s Forest Nursery in Jackson, foresters and staff are hard at work collecting and sorting this year’s acorn crop in preparation for growing the next generation of oaks — trees that one day will spread shade, oxygen, and beauty across New Jersey.